Chapter 7 - If You Just Do as You're Told
‘Stretch my back? What is he talking about all of a sudden?’
Walking down the hallway, Laura tilted her head in confusion.
‘He's not even a trainer, so what...’
Baek Hyeon-woo was said to be an ordinary person with no experience in the entertainnt industry.
He was CEO Baek Yeon-ah's nephew, and since he was currently resting at ho, he was said to be helping out with Haram Entertainnt's work.
To put it simply, he's just an unemployed nobody.
Is there any need to listen attentively to the advice of such a person?
“Laura, can you take a look at this for a mont?”
“Yes, I understand.”
As Laura entered the practice room, the trainer showed her the laptop screen.
“This, it's what I fild earlier.”
“Yes...”
A video played on the screen.
It was a video recording of the dance practice from earlier.
“This move here, you see how it's slightly slower compared to Na-eun?”
“……”
Just as the trainer pointed out, Laura's movent was slightly slower than Seo Na-eun's.
“The movent itself is accurate. You got the angle of your arm raise right, too. But the fact that it's one beat... no, about half a beat slow is what bothers .”
“……”
“To be honest, this much can just be overlooked. It's a fast-paced section, and not many people will notice. But when viewed as a whole, it can give the impression that you're out of sync.”
The trainer replayed just that section repeatedly.
Confirming the sight of herself moving half a beat too slow, Laura bit her lip.
“This part, let's try it again while paying attention to it.”
“I understand.”
As Laura nodded, the trainer gathered the other mbers who were on break.
“'For ' from the middle of the first verse, we're going to start again from there! Match your timing with Na-eun!”
“Yes…!”
In Newstarz, the one with the most outstanding dance skills is the leader and main dancer, Seo Na-eun.
Her talent for matching the beat had long been unparalleled.
Therefore, the standard for Newstarz's dances was always Seo Na-eun.
Laura didn't feel any particular dissatisfaction with this fact.
Rather, she held a sense of respect for Seo Na-eun.
They weren't close with each other, but she respected Seo Na-eun, who always worked silently to show the best performance.
The reason she had taken a prickly attitude towards Baek Hyeon-woo, who seed to have gotten strangely close with Seo Na-eun lately, was ultimately because of these feelings.
‘These days, fancam videos are trending and unnie's skills are becoming known to the world... I can't be the one to hold her back.’
She couldn't hold her back.
This was sothing Laura was saying not only to Baek Hyeon-woo but also to herself.
If she was the only one whose timing was off in the dance, thereby lowering the overall completeness, she would beco a nuisance to Seo Na-eun.
It wouldn't matter in a fancam focused only on Seo Na-eun, but it would inevitably give a bad impression to the audience watching live at the venue or the viewers watching the music broadcast.
‘So... I have to do better.’
Thinking such thoughts, Laura began to move her body to the music.
While concentrating on matching Seo Na-eun's movents precisely.
However...
“Laura! You finished the previous move too early just now! If you end the move before it too early just to do the next move faster, you'll ruin everything!”
“Yes…!”
“Now you moved in such a hurry that your arm angle is completely off! Your posture is a ss because you were only conscious of the speed!”
“I'm sorry…!”
“Laura! Try it one more ti!”
“I understand…!”
Despite practicing while sweating profusely.
Laura couldn't dance like Seo Na-eun even once.
* * *
“One, two, three...”
Squeak, squeak, squeak.
The sound of indoor shoes rubbing against the practice room floor echoed continuously.
The current ti was 11 PM.
Despite all the other mbers having gone ho, Laura was in the practice room doing a personal practice session by herself.
“One, two, three... Ah!”
Thud!
She slipped in the middle of a move and fell.
Enduring the pain, she checked the floor and saw that the beads of sweat that had fallen from Laura had pooled on the floor, making it slippery.
“Ah, seriously...”
Laura sighed and lay down on the practice room floor.
Lying down like that, she stretched out her arm and grabbed her phone, which she had propped up nearby.
“The more I do it, the more it feels like it's getting weirder...”
Checking the video fild on her phone, Laura let out another sigh.
“I really don't know what the problem is...”
She checked the videos she had practiced with so far one by one, but the more she watched, the more confused she beca.
She couldn't figure out what she needed to fix or how.
“Am I just lacking in skill...”
Laura felt a sense of self-loathing.
Seeing that it's not working even after practicing like this, it seems right to just see it as a simple lack of skill.
“I can't help that I can't dance as coolly as Na-eun unnie, but I should at least be able to match the beat.”
Muttering to herself, Laura covered her face with both hands.
“Am I really lacking in talent after all...”
In the past, Laura had lived as a trainee at another entertainnt agency.
She worked hard with the goal of becoming an idol, but in the end, she couldn't make it into the debut lineup.
While she was contemplating whether to remain at the agency and aim for the next chance or give up on the path of an idol... she accepted an offer from Haram Entertainnt and debuted as a mber of Newstarz.
However, despite becoming the idol she had longed to be, Laura had always felt a sense of self-loathing.
It was the self-loathing of wondering if she was lacking in skill as an idol.
At her first agency, she was pushed out by other trainees and failed to debut, and even in Newstarz, she hasn't shown a particularly standout performance and is only being a nuisance to the other mbers.
“This is just too pathetic...”
Laura, who is of Northern European descent, is an idol who projects a 'cool' image.
Her usual personality is also like that, so everyone thinks Laura has a cool personality.
But her inner self is not cool at all.
A girl who struggles while feeling self-loathing for her lack of skill... that was the idol nad Laura.
“You are not pathetic, Laura-ssi.”
“……!”
At the voice that suddenly ca from above her, Laura hurriedly lowered the hands that were covering her face.
“Wh-why are you here?”
Because the music had been playing continuously, she hadn't noticed at all.
Before she knew it, Baek Hyeon-woo was looking down at Laura from above.
* * *
“I had so work to do.”
To Laura's question of why he was here, Baek Hyeon-woo answered calmly.
“There were things to move, and it took ti because there was more than I thought.”
“Ah…”
Haram Entertainnt is short-handed overall.
Team Leader Park Yeong-ho has a cast on his right hand, so it's difficult for him to do strenuous work.
Thanks to that, Baek Hyeon-woo ended up working late into the night by himself.
“Aren't you being overworked?”
“That's just how a manager's job is.”
“Even so...”
“And it's also work for my aunt's company.”
If it were any other company, he would have said he couldn't do it anymore and quit, but Haram Entertainnt is his aunt's company.
Since it was a job he started to help his aunt's company, he had no choice but to just work silently.
“I'm supposed to receive part-ti pay by the hour for the work I do, so you don't have to worry.”
“I-it's not like I said that because I was worried, okay?”
Laura said, glaring at Baek Hyeon-woo.
“If your work is done, hurry up and leave. Don't loiter around here.”
“I was planning to lock up before I leave.”
Baek Hyeon-woo showed her the key he had received from Park Yeong-ho.
There is an electronic door lock, but separate from that, there's also a place that is locked with a key.
“Then give the key! I can just lock up and go!”
“I can't do that. I received a request from Na-eun-ssi earlier.”
At the ntion of Seo Na-eun's na, Laura's eyes widened.
“Na-eun unnie made a request?”
“She asked to talk you into it and send you ho if it seed like you were practicing too late, Laura-ssi.”
“……!”
Normally, the Newstarz mbers don't get along very closely.
However, it's not that there's discord; rather, they are the type to think deeply of one another.
You could feel that from Seo Na-eun's attitude of worrying about Laura as well.
“Na-eun-ssi seed to be very worried about you, Laura-ssi. She said it seems you're having a hard ti because your dancing isn't going well.”
When he told her that Seo Na-eun was worried, Laura's eyes grew moist.
“Still… I'll just practice a little more before I go.”
“Laura-ssi.”
“I have to get it perfect before today is over at least. Because if I give up and quit here, it's too pathetic.”
“As I said before, it's not pathetic at all.”
Baek Hyeon-woo said in a calm voice.
“The way you look now is also good to see.”
“The way I look now? Ah…!”
Realizing she was lying down defenselessly with her arms and legs spread out, Laura hurriedly sat up.
“What kind of strange thing are you saying!”
“I didn't an it in a strange way.”
Baek Hyeon-woo said in a calm voice.
“The sight of soone who has worked hard and shed sweat cannot possibly be pathetic.”
“What...”
When he worked at the orthopedic clinic, Baek Hyeon-woo would sotis treat students from the sports teams.
There were many students who got injured from trying too hard in competitions or practice.
Baek Hyeon-woo was feeling the sa emotion towards Laura that he had felt while looking at those students.
“But. Since you're putting in the effort anyway, wouldn't it be better to do it efficiently?”
“……?”
Laura blinked her eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“We perfect it as quickly as possible and finish. Then both you, Laura-ssi, and I can go ho early. Na-eun-ssi is worried too, so let's finish as quickly as possible.”
“That's not sothing that can be done just by wanting to...”
“You can do it.”
Baek Hyeon-woo t Laura's eyes and declared.
“That is, if only your back is properly released, just as I said earlier.”
“Pardon?”
Saying that, Baek Hyeon-woo checked Laura's status window.
The advice he had given Laura in the hallway earlier was also sothing he had said after seeing her status window.
—---------
[Laura]
Vocal: B-
Dance: B-
Visual: A-
Potential: S
Body Condition: 75%
ntal Condition: 35%
– Motor impairnt is occurring due to a problem with the latissimus dorsi muscle of the trunk.
– ntal Condition is severely lowered.
– A negative correction is being applied to Vocal, Dance, and Visual.
—--------
There's nothing he could do about her lowered ntal Condition right now.
However, the problem of her dancing not going well due to the latissimus dorsi muscle was sothing he could resolve right here and now.
Guiding her dance movents like a trainer would be difficult, but when it ca to this kind of area, Baek Hyeon-woo was a veteran.
He had approached it the sa way when treating students from the sports teams at the hospital.
Baek Hyeon-woo wasn't a sports coach or a trainer, but he was able to improve the students' athletic performance by correcting their physical imbalances.
So, he just had to do the sa for Laura.
“Laura-ssi, I won't be touching your body. Just please move exactly as I tell you to.”
“Yes…?”
To the bewildered Laura, Baek Hyeon-woo said in a confident voice.
“If you just do as I say, the problem will be resolved quickly.”
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